Watch: Harry Brook's astonishingly bizarre dismissal leaves Ponting, Taylor befuddled in Ashes 1st Test
England's Harry Brook was out in a bizarre fashion during the first Ashes Test in Birmingham, and his dismissal left commentators befuddled.
On the back of a disappointing IPL 2023 season, Harry Brook's woes continued as he was dismissed in a bizarre manner on Day 1 of the Ashes series opener between England and Australia, at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Initially, England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat. But after opener Zak Crawley's knock of 61 runs off 73 balls, the hosts failed to put up a strong challenge against the WTC champions.
Brook registered 32 runs off 37 balls and was playing an aggressive knock until a Nathan Lyon delivery sent him back to the pavilion. Receiving a shorter length delivery in the 38th over, Brook failed to connect as it hit his thigh pad and it bounced high up in the air. Everyone lost sight of the ball, including the batter and wicketkeeper. The ball suddenly came down and landed behind the SRH player's leg and then bounced onto the stumps, much to the joy of the Aussies.
Also Read | Watch: Ben Stokes left flabbergasted as Zak Crawley gives blistering Bazball welcome to Australia in 1st Ashes Test
Here is the video of Brook's dismissal:
Such was the bizarre fashion of his dismissal that even commentators Ricky Ponting and Mark Taylor were left stunned. Ponting exclaimed, "Desperately unlucky. I have seen many modes of dismissals but not one like that."
Australia will be aiming to begin their title defence in a dominating manner. The Pat Cummins-led side beat India in the WTC final recently, which took place from June 7-11, at The Oval in London. The match had plenty of positives for the Aussies, with Travis Head and Steve Smith in particular bagging tons.
Smith smacked 121 runs off 268 balls in the first innings. Meanwhile, Head also slammed 163 off 174 deliveries in the same innings. The WTC final also saw Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon scalp five wickets each, in both innings combined. England haven't won the Ashes since their home win in 2015 and Australia have won as hosts 4-0 in both 2017-18 and 2021-22 series. They also retained the urn in 2019, when the five-match series ended in a 2-2 draw.
